Environmental group GOB Mallorca has reiterated its public complaint about the ‘irregularities detected’ in the tender for seasonal services on the beaches of the municipality of Palma - seasons 2026-2029 - and called on the Directorate-General for Coasts and Littoral to take ‘immediate measures to restore legality and ensure transparency’ in the process.
In a statement, the environmental group explained that Palma City Council submitted the seasonal facilities project for public information with an economic-financial study establishing maximum unit rates for services such as sun loungers, parasols and pedal boats in the municipality. However, it added that the tender subsequently published on the Public Sector Contracting Platform included another economic study with ‘much higher’ rates and even items that did not appear in the initial project, such as “premium” sun loungers and canvas parasols at high prices.
GOB considers that this difference means that the rates that could end up being applied by the operators would be higher than those authorised and that this ‘would violate the conditions of the licence regulating the operation of seasonal services’.
In addition, they have criticised the failure to comply with the provisions of Article 113.6 of the General Coastal Regulations, which establishes that the tender specifications must be public and published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), guaranteeing the principles of publicity, transparency and competitive bidding. They claim that this publication has not taken place, which, in their opinion, constitutes ‘a lack of guarantees in a procedure that directly affects the use of the public maritime-terrestrial domain and its easement area’.
For all these reasons, they are calling for proceedings to be initiated to revoke the authorisation due to non-compliance with the conditions, for strict compliance with the provisions of Article 113.6 of the General Coastal Regulations and for the tender for seasonal services on Palma’s beaches to be revoked until compliance with the regulations and the transparency of the procedure can be guaranteed.
GOB concluded by stressing that the coastline and beaches are a common good and that any private exploitation of services on public land must be subject to clear conditions that are consistent with the project submitted for public information and with all guarantees of transparency for the general public.